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Payment & Delivery

How insurers and providers are organized and paid to deliver care. Research by LDI Senior Fellows examines the shift from fee-for-service payments to newer models of paying for and delivering value, such as Accountable Care Organizations and Patient-Centered Medical Homes.

Abstract [from journal]

Background: There is increasing emphasis on the use of patient-reported experience data to assess practice performance, particularly in the setting of patient-centered medical homes. Yet we lack understanding of what organizational processes relate to patient experiences.

Objective: Examine associations between organizational processes practices adopt to become PCMH and patient experiences with care.

On May 2 and 3, the School of Nursing sponsored a multidisciplinary “Think Tank” devoted to improving care for older adults with chronic illness. Led by Mary Naylor and Nancy Hodgson, it drew more than 40 external thought leaders, who joined Penn experts from across the University.

Reducing preventable and unplanned emergency department visits and hospitalizations is a major challenge in cancer care. In this review of best practices and supporting evidence, the authors identified five strategies that health systems and cancer programs can use to reduce acute care: (1) identify patients at high risk of unplanned acute care; (2) enhance access and care coordination; (3) standardize clinical pathways for symptom management; (4) develop new sites for urgent cancer care, and; (5) use early palliative care.

Abstract [from journal]

Children with autism spectrum disorder from low-income, minority families or those with limited English proficiency are diagnosed at a later age, or not at all, compared with their more advantaged peers. The Developmental Check-In is a new tool that could potentially be used to screen for autism that uses pictures to illustrate target behaviors. It was developed to enhance early identification of autism spectrum disorder in low literacy groups. The Developmental Check-In was tested in a sample of 376 children between the ages of 24 and 60 months, from...

Abstract [from journal]

Background: Scientific statements have championed the measurement of clinical outcomes after cardiac stress testing to better define their value. Using contemporary national data, we sought to describe the characteristics of patients who experience outcomes after stress testing.

Methods and Results: Using administrative claims from a large national private insurer, we conducted an observational cohort study of

Abstract [from journal]

Background & Aims: Gastrointestinal bleeding results in significant morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs in the United States. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services' payment reform programs assess quality and value based on rates of hospital readmission for patients with gastrointestinal bleeding, but they identify these patients using Medicare Severity Diagnosis Related Groups (MS-DRGs), which include many types of gastrointestinal bleeding and do not account for the clinical heterogeneity among these patients. We aimed...

Abstract [from journal]

Importance: Hospitals in the United States have been subject to mandatory public reporting of mortality rates for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and heart failure (HF) since 2007 and to value-based payment programs for these conditions since 2011. However, whether hospitals with initially poor baseline performance have improved relative to other hospitals under these programs, and whether patterns of improvement differ by condition, is unknown. Understanding trends within...

Surgical patients age 65 and over with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) were more likely to die within 30 days of admission and to die after a complication than those without ADRD. Having better-educated nurses in the hospital improved the likelihood of good outcomes for all surgical patients, but had a much greater effect in individuals with ADRD. Specifically, a 10% increase in the proportion of nurses with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree or higher was associated with 10% lower odds of death and 10% lower odds of dying after a complication for surgical patients with ADRD.

A new study in Health Services Research from Penn MSHP alumna Kristin Rising, Penn LDI Adjunct Senior Fellow Brendan Carr, and their colleagues at Jefferson University quantifies something that seems like common sense – patients don’t stick to just one health system for emergency care.

A comprehensive review of prior authorization (PA) requirements for a new class of expensive cholesterol-lowering drugs known as proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors has found unusually complex and burdensome demands across public and private insurance plans in the United States. These findings raise concerns that current policies may create undue barriers to care even in medically appropriate patients, particularly since requirements were just as stringent for patients with a genetic condition that creates more clear-cut eligibility for PCSK9 inhibitor treatment.

Abtract [from journal]

Background
While early evidence suggests that Medicare accountable care organizations (ACOs) may reduce post-acute care (PAC) utilization for attributed beneficiaries, whether these effects spill over to all beneficiaries admitted to hospitals participating in ACOs stray is unknown.

Objective
The objective of this study was to evaluate whether changes in PAC use and Medicare spending spill over to all beneficiaries admitted to hospitals participating in the Medicare

Abstract [from journal]

Objective: Despite the critical role behavioral health care payers can play in creating an incentive to use evidence-based practices (EBPs), little research has examined which incentives are used in public mental health systems, the largest providers of mental health care in the United States.

Methods: The authors surveyed state mental health directors from 44 states about whether they used any...

In JAMA, Amol Navathe and LDI colleagues Joshua Liao, Paula Chatterjee, Dan Polsky, and Ezekiel Emanuel examine hospital savings and quality results for the first year of the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) bundled payment program. Since April 2016, Medicare has bundled payments for hip and knee replacements at 799 hospitals through CJR. The program incentivizes quality and cost containment by providing retrospective bonus payments that increase as hospitals exceed their cost and quality benchmarks, or imposing penalties if hospitals fall short. While the CJR...

Practice transformation and payment reform are defining features of contemporary health policy debates. The story goes like this: new provider organizations, such as Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are transforming care delivery from fragmented and volume driven to integrated and optimized for quality; meanwhile, innovative payment models, such as bundled payments and risk-based contracting, herald a national transition from fee-for-service (FFS) to value-based payments.